Just gotta pass this on.

My son's 17U team played in a local tournament last weekend. He was hurt, didn't play, so I wasn't nearly as "excitable" as normal.

Our first game of the tournament started at 9:30 on a Friday night. It was, by far, the ugliest game I've ever witnessed. I have a six year-old who played kindergarten basketball last winter, and I play in a men's church league, so I'm pretty familiar with ugly.

The two teams probably combined for over 40 turnovers. Offensive possessions were largely 1-on-5, with the person who had the ball as the team crossed halfcourt being the one who took the shot. Defense was generally 5-on-1, often 5-on-0. Even though, missed wide-open lay-ups were common. Pitiful.

Unfortunately, the officials struggled, as well. One of the officials must've mowed his yard just before coming to the game. He still had on his yard work tennis shoes.

Within in a minute of the start of the game, all player shirttails were out. Trash talk dominated every trip down the floor. A fight almost broke out at the end of the second quarter. Fans for both teams were widely making rear ends of themselves.

With about four minutes left in the fourth quarter, the opponent started a fast break near our bench. Our coach stuck his leg in the air, faking like he was going to kick the ball. It disconcerted the dribbler, who lost it out of bounds. The ref rightly gave the opponent the ball, but wrongly failed to call a tech on our coach. I told him after the game I couldn't believe he did it. I told my son privately it was one of the most unsportsmanlike things I've seen on a basketball court.

With a couple of minutes left in the game, refs called a foul on one of our players. He thought it was his fifth, so walked off the court. As he neared the sideline, he took his jersey off, and dropped it on the floor. The coaches shouted to him it was only his fourth, so he reached down to pick up his shirt, to put it back on. You guessed it. T - fifth foul. Funny as long as it happens to someone else.

Game ended with a steal off of a steal, and two fumbled passes that ultimately went out of bounds as the buzzer went off. We won by one point.

I went outside and puked on my shoes.

No, no, TB, you've got it all wrong. You're supposed to puke on someone else's shoes!

But seriously, it sounds awful. Is the coach always that unsportsmanlike? How do you feel about your kid playing for him?

And this is wrong why......?

I have but one word == GAG!

Don't the rules say one must wear their uniform properly (ie: tucked in)? :D

Hey, Rainmaker.

Actually, the coach is a good guy. I was shocked that he pulled the stunt, because he's generally a very good role model for the kids. At a tournament in Houston, our two star players were late for a morning meeting, so he sat them the first half of the first game that day. We've had other issues with prima donna players, and he's taken the "right" approach, even at the risk of losing the players. Not having seen that kind of behavior before, I chalk it up to one of those things that you look back on, shake your head, and mumble to yourself, "what was I thinking?".

Thanks for asking, though. Over the years, we've crossed paths with a lot of coaches I wouldn't let my son play for, even if it meant a guaranteed scholarship. I'm a parent/fan/coach, but even I have morals! :-)

Yea, anyone can have a nasty moment. It's perfectly understandable. Not that it's not important, but it's forgivable if it's just once in however many years. I'm glad you're careful about who coaches your kid. It's very, very important!

:eek: You're kidding!

:D

If the shirttails come out during the normal course of play, there is no rule against that. It is then up to the official to direct the player(s) to tuck in their shirts at the next dead ball.

My point was that, in of itself, this is not a violation.

Sounds almost as bad as Mens Rec League. :rolleyes:

Not enough fights, ejections and forfeits by the sound of it. Give these guys a few years, they'll get up to men's rec league standards. :rolleyes: